drouth

plural drouths

1. Northern EnglandScotlandalternativecountableuncountableotherwise archaic or poeticAlternative form of drought.

   He listened to her licking lap. Ham and eggs, no. No good eggs with this drouth.

   1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 4: Calypso]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 54

   2 more examples

   While the drouth is a most regrettable occurrence, the resultant scarcity of the pests is one compensation that enables Ste. Genevievans to enjoy an occasional evening on lawn or front porch and to feel the full meaning of the old saw that says “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good.”

   1930 August 23, “Fewer Mosquitoes in Season of Drouth”, in Ste. Genevieve Herald, volume 49, number 23, Ste. Genevieve, Mo., →OCLC, front page, column 6

   Name other great catastrophes this world has seen, the floods, the fires, the earthquakes, plague or famine or drouth.

   1965, Marguerite Young, Miss MacIntosh, My Darling, Scribner, page 174